Portal in Bulloch County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Old Portal

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Photographed by David Seibert, April 10, 2014

1. Old Portal Marker

Inscription. The original Portal was located 2 miles north of the current site on Old Portal Road. It got its name in 1894, when the U.S. Postal Service approved a post office for Portal. The E. E. Foy Company, of Effingham County, built a mercantile store that was the center of the new town. Portal was located near the end of a private railroad that Foy built to transport logs to his sawmill at Rocky Ford in Screven County. Farmers and timber workers prospered in this new town. Prominent family names in Portal were Davis, Finch, Parsons, and McCroan.

By 1904 the axe and the saw had claimed most of the timber in the area, and the Foy Company looked elsewhere for uncut forests. After closing the company store, Foy sold titles to lots of Old Portal.

A public rail line – the Savannah, Augusta, and Northern Railway – began serving this area of Bulloch County in 1907. People of Portal moved to a bustling community near the new railroad. In the words of the historian, R. Frank Saunders, Jr., “Portal has a heritage – proud and honorable – second to none.”

Erected by The Bulloch County Historical

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Society, sponsored by the Jack N. & Addie D. Averitt Foundation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 32° 32.367′ N, 81° 56.1′ W. Marker is in Portal, Georgia, in Bulloch County. It is at the intersection of U.S. 80 and Old Portal Road, on the right when traveling west on U.S. 80. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Portal GA 30450, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Dr. James A. Stewart House (approx.

Photographed by David Seibert, April 10, 2014

2. Old Portal Marker

¼ mile away); Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes (approx. 2.8 miles away); Upper Lotts Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery (approx. 4.2 miles away); Banks Dairy Farm (approx. 6.4 miles away); Akins’ Mill Pond / The Families of Akins’ Mill Pond (approx. 7.2 miles away); Rigdon’s Mill / The Rigdon Cemetery (approx. 9.7 miles away); Skirmish at Statesboro (approx. 10 miles away); Union Meeting House (approx. 10.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Portal.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Willow Hill School and Community (was approx. 3 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Photographed by David Seibert, April 10, 2014

3. Old Portal Marker

Looking north on Old Portal Road toward the original site of the community. There is virtually no remnant of the original settlement.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 29, 2017. It was originally submitted on August 29, 2017, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. This page has been viewed 1,282 times since then and 95 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 29, 2017, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia.